Genealogy Chat

Hi I'm going to research my family tree at Lichfield Register Office and they have parish records going back to the 1500's................................I was just wondering what information do parish records give you..for instance would there be parish records for births and if so will these give the maiden name(might be a silly question)................ It just on the IGI I have a few from the area I am going to visit and they only give mothers christian name~will this be the same on the parish records. Any info would be great as I have not looked into parish records yet..Many thanks Zoe xx

Zoe Parish registers depend on who filled them in. I have found baptism registers that give date of birth as well as baptism, mother's maiden name, father's occupation and an address. Then again, my gt gt grandfather's just says 1812 Dec John, son of John Smoothy & Elizabeth. Marriage registers give bride & groom's names, whether 'otp' (of this parish - which just means whether they were living in the parish at the time of the marriage and isn't necessarily true anyway!) witnesses and priest. After 1st July 1837 they have all the details you get on a civil marriage cert - fathers' occupations etc. Burial registers - I haven't seen any originals, so can't comment. nell

They are unlikely to give date of birth, but will give the date the child was baptised. Again, fathers name will be given and if you are lucky even an occupation but most just give mums first name. But armed with that info you can check for siblings with same parents (as long as the parents arent James and Sarah Smith - beware of relatives bearing the same name in the area). And for the couples marriage and in turn, with luck you can find their own baptisms and work backwards again. It is very exciting when you do find something though! I remember shouting 'Yes!' when I first found GGFx3 baptism.

No two parish records are the same! It often depends on the person filling them in as to what information they include. Baptisms don't usually have the mother's maiden name, but I have seen one parish that does for a short period of time! They also don't tend to have any father's names on weddings or any family details on burials. There will be one or two that do. Best to go along and transcribe in full everything you find. They can give you litle clues about where to look next.

Thanks for that I know that in someway nearly all the people whose surname I will be searching in that area are all related. I know it will be a good visit it will be nice seeing where my ancestors lived for over 200years or more. And will also be nice to see the street my grandma was born on..Hopefully I will be able to find the marriages for the ones I seek..LOL Zoe

Can you actually get copies of the parish records? Zoe

It depends! There is a huge variety, from fiche copies of registers for sale, printed volumes of parish registers (a second best, as these are transcripts only) that you can't copy as they are too fragile. Do it yourself copying or copying in virtually any format you can name, carried out by the staff. Their website ought to provide some information.

as been said depends, the best i have seen recently are for Stanton by Bridge nr Melbourne, Derbyshire, the vicar always put the birth date and mothers maiden name on baptisms and for the years 1811/1821/1831 did his own census of the village naming everybody and there occupations, wife and childrens names and ages, it was brilliant, why could all vicars not be like that

Hi Zoe, At my local Archives they will do a photocopy/print of the record you want for 55p, I imagine that most places would have the facility to copy or provide a print. Sam x

I often think that Gary, how much more effort would it have taken for them to give a bit more info!

Well I hope it was a good vicar who wrote everything...I can wish can't I Zoe

In Norfolk in the late 1700s, burial registers gave parents names (including mother's maiden name) for not only children but also old men, which takes you straight back to marriages in the 1720s. The burials of women give maiden names, so in one case I can find her burial and her baptism, while her marriage still eludes me. It came as a dreadful shock to find the John Smith married a child of John Smith baptised and John Smith buried type of entries

You will also be able to see quite modern marriages (after 1837) so you can save yourself lots of money! I hardly send for any marriage certificates now because I can get them for a few pence at the County Record Office if I know where the couple got married. Cheers, Horatia

I have looked through quite a few burial registers, so I can help there. The 19th century ones will give name, abode, age and date of burial, because they had to be done on a special form with those column headings, but the earlier ones will probably just give name and date of burial, though for a child it will usually say son or daughter of whoever and sometimes there will be additional information such as wife of whoever, widow, 'the elder' or 'the younger' (equivalent of senior or junior), but as I say in general not much extra info. So when you get back to the early ones you will have trouble working out which William Smith (or whatever) it was that died in which year! Kate.

I didnt know that Brenda. I shall really have to go to the NRO on a week day and sit there all day when its quieter practicing me fiche performance and looking up this info.

I don't know whether it is all Norfolk, Heather, or just the archdeaconry that Holt is in (Norwich?) but the registers are fantastic. It's the one place where I regret the introduction of printed registers in 1812 because you actually get less information than you did before.